Camping Le Saillet

We loved the lounge bar, with fresh music and food, and there are plenty of ways to spend time nearby: the Bètharram caves, rafting, canoeing from the campsite, tennis, a full-size football field, and walks in the Pyrenees. Most facilities worked well, though some could use attention. We would have appreciated temperature control in the showers. The owners are the hosts you hope to find. They get you excited about what there is to do both on site and in the area, and their warmth makes it easy to love the place.

The site looks like it might be nicer during peak season, but I still expect a hot shower with adjustable temperature. In mid-September, on a cool day, the water was only lukewarm. We were packing up to leave when the woman on duty said she'd fix it. It warmed up briefly, then was cold again by the time my partner took a shower.

The location worked well for visiting nearby historic places, and Lourdes is only 8 miles away. We liked having a full-size football pitch, and chose a riverside pitch since the site was quiet and we could pick where to stay. The river was raging the whole time, though, and far too fast to swim in. The pool was closed and looked quite small compared with the picture. There was one washing machine and one dryer, each costing 4 euros, and WiFi at a wooden hut. The shower block was basic and cold. It took 3 days for the water to reach a decent temperature, and with the door wedged open, bugs were wandering around, which put my children off using the showers. Only the female toilets were open, which made my wife uneasy since most campers there were men. On our last night we went to the Lourdes night procession. We got back at 2225 hours and found the gate locked with a padlock. The reception numbers got no answer; an hour later someone called back and said we should leave the car outside and walk in. I understand the 2200 gate-lock rule, but wondered what would happen if we needed to leave in an emergency or get an ambulance onto the site. The owners don't live there, though apparently they're on call 24/7 ???. I raised the locked gate with them, but felt the concern was ignored out of respect for the other campers. Since this happened on our final day, I gave 4 stars. We stayed 5 nights in our caravan. It's a nice site, and it seems the two owners are doing everything themselves.

We'd driven all over France, and this place was a highlight. We arrived late but were still welcomed in, and the owners were fantastic. There's a nice little bar serving beer and sangria. The owner helped translate the local pizza menu into English and even called to make sure they were open. It was a great stay, and we'd love to come back.